1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automatic payment systems, and more particularly, to a vehicle identification and payment system for use with a plurality of merchants.
2. Description of Related Art
One way that merchants attract consumers to their businesses is by offering convenient and superior service. One example is the drive-through lane of a fast food restaurant which allows a customer to place an order, pay for the order and receive the ordered food without leaving his or her vehicle. Other businesses such as gas stations and dry cleaners offer similar types of conveniences that are also based on the knowledge that many of their customers will likely be arriving in a vehicle. For example, a dry cleaner may have a drive-through service or convenient short-term parking stalls near the entrance of the establishment providing the customer with easy access to the business.
Another convenience generally offered to consumers is the ability to use credit cards or bank debit cards for the payment of goods and services. Such cashless systems allow the consumer to remit payment without having to manually withdraw and carry cash from a bank. One drawback with credit cards is the lengthy processing time required to complete a credit card transaction. Although current processing times of cashless systems are considered acceptable in many environments, especially when large transactions are involved, most cashless systems are inefficient for applications such as fast food drive-through lanes where the size of the transaction is small, the customer arrives in a vehicle, and/or the customer expects fast service.
Cashless systems have been developed that overcome some of the deficiencies of a standard credit card transaction. For example, in certain automated parking garages a customer is provided with a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag which identifies the customer to the proprietor of the parking garage. The RFID tag may take many forms, for example it may be attached to the vehicle, provided in a card, or in a key fob. When the customer enters the parking facility, the RFID tag is interrogated by a card reader which is located at the entrance. of the parking garage close to an entrance gate. The card reader is connected to a host computer which checks stored user information associated with the ID number, authorizes the car to enter, and tracks the time that the car is parked in the garage. A local host computer maintains account information for the identified vehicle, which can be used to prepare periodic billing statements that are mailed to the customer. A proprietor may have more than one parking garage, with each local host computer connected to a single remote computer for the centralized production of billing statements.
Another example of this type of system is MOBIL SPEEDPASS(trademark) which is used for the purchase of gasoline. The company issues RFID tags to its customers that identify the customer by an ID number. When a customer pulls up to a gas pump, the RFID tag is interrogated to receive the ID number of the tag. That number is sent via satellite to a host computer which authenticates the tag. If authorized, the host computer returns an authorization signal to enable the gasoline pump. The host computer charges a previously selected credit or bank debit card to pay for the gasoline that was actually pumped. After the credit or bank debit card transaction is complete, a receipt is printed for the customer. The final transaction is then recorded in a central database which is used to track customer buying patterns.
The prior art cashless systems described above have many drawbacks. For example, each merchant issues its own proprietary identification card forcing a consumer to carry a separate form of payment for each merchant. Further, the processing times of credit card payments of these systems is too slow and inconvenient for applications such as fast food drive through restaurants. Thus, it would be desirable to implement a fast, convenient way for customers to pay for goods and services without using cash. It would also be desirable to provide a cashless system that can operate with multiple retail locations and payment centers that allows for fast and convenient processing of cashless transactions. It would further be desirable to reduce the average processing time of such cashless transactions to less than the average processing time of a standard cash transaction.
The present invention provides a system and method for implementing cashless transactions through multiple payment centers and multiple merchants that overcomes many of the deficiencies in the prior art systems.
In one embodiment of the present invention, an automated payment system for a plurality of remote merchants includes a clearinghouse system, a plurality of customer tags and a plurality of local merchant systems. The clearinghouse system includes a customer database for storing information associated with each customer of the automated payment system. The customer information includes a unique customer identification number for each customer and customer account information. When a customer joins the clearinghouse service, the unique customer identification number is assigned and the customer arranges a payment method with the clearinghouse service. For example; the customer may provide the clearinghouse service with a pre-paid cash balance, may authorize the clearinghouse service to automatically deduct cashless transactions from a credit card account or bank account, or may be billed directly. The customer is then provided with one or more customer tags, such as an RFID transponder, each tag having a unique tag identification number. In a preferred embodiment, the RFID transponder is provided on an adhesive substrate which is attached directly to a window of a customer""s vehicle.
The clearinghouse system also includes a merchant database, which stores information associated with each remote merchant that offers the cashless payment services of the clearinghouse system. The merchant information includes a unique merchant identification number and merchant account information. For example, the merchant may provide bank account information so that cashless transactions may be paid directly to the merchant""s bank account.
Each remote merchant includes a local merchant system which includes a reader, a point-of-sale system, an authorization database and a transaction database. The reader is adapted to automatically retrieve the tag identification number from a customer tag when the customer tag is within an associated reading area. In a preferred embodiment, the reader is an RFID interrogator and its associated reading area is located in a merchant drive-through lane at a location where customers are expected to stop their vehicles, such as at a menu board of a fast food restaurant where customers place their food orders. In an alternate embodiment, the reading area may be a short-term parking stall.
The point-of-sale system is used for entering and processing customer orders, and is adapted to handle both standard cash transactions and the authorized cashless transactions of the present invention. The authorization database includes tag identification numbers for each customer authorized to use the automated payment system. Periodic updates to the authorization database may be downloaded from the customer database of the clearinghouse system. After the reader retrieves a tag identification number from a customer tag, a search is conducted in the authorization database for the retrieved tag identification number. If the retrieved number is found, the point-of-sale system is authorized to process a cashless transaction for the customer associated with the tag identification number. In an alternate embodiment, when the retrieved number is not found in the authorization database, the reader disables the customer tag (e.g., by overwriting the tag identification number).
The transaction database stores information for each authorized cashless transaction completed by the point-of-sale system. The transaction database periodically transmits the stored transaction information to the clearinghouse system, preferably over the Internet. For each cashless transaction transmitted to the clearinghouse system, the clearinghouse system withdraws funds from the associated customer account and remits payment to the associated merchant account.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a method for processing a cashless transaction at a remote merchant is provided. A tag reader is operated to automatically retrieve a tag identification number associated with a customer""s vehicle. Next, a cashless transaction is authorized if the retrieved tag identification number is found in the list of valid tag identification numbers stored in the computer database of the local merchant computer system. In an alternate embodiment, if the retrieved tag identification number is not found in the list of valid customer identification numbers, then the tag reader is operated to disable the customer identification number associated with the customer""s vehicle. The cashless transaction is entered into the local point-of-sale system, and subsequently, data describing the cashless transaction, including the retrieved customer identification number, is stored in the computer database of the merchant computer system.
The stored cashless transactions are periodically uploaded to the clearinghouse computer, which withdraws each transaction amount from the customer""s account associated with the retrieved customer identification number and remits each transaction amount to the remote merchant""s account. In an alternate embodiment, the method further includes the step of periodically updating the list of valid customer identification numbers by downloading updates from the clearinghouse computer.
A more complete understanding of the automated payment system for a plurality of remote merchants will be afforded to those skilled in the art, as well as a realization of additional advantages and objects thereof, by a consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment. Reference will be made to the appended sheets of drawings which will first be described briefly.